I wasn't going to mention that I picked up the Niners DST for this unless we won. That safety cost me two points though and Brees just raped me in the last quarter. I'm in trouble and my winless streak is looking pretty safe.

Can't really blame Gore too much on that fumble though. Yes he should hold on to the ball, but at the same time everyone has been playing **** the entire year so far. At least the offense. This is why you need an offense that can score 30 points a game so you can offset those turnovers.

Alex has played fine, yeah I said it. When they needed a drive to win the game, they spread the field and let him throw. Gore is done, and there should be no excuses, he limits the Offense tremendously because he's not a big play threat and he can't do anything outside the tackles. When Hunter came in the difference was startling.

No love for Alex Smith? 4/5 for 48 yards on that 4th Q go head drive. At point he hit 7 passes in a row in the 4th. It was one of few times I wasn't nervous having Smith out there in the 4th.

No chance.

People always clamor for Smith to step up when the team needs a win. He did it today. Would've hit 9 straight passes had Gore not let it bounce off his face.

I watched carefully and you can argue that even though Smith was 20-30, he had 6 passes dropped.

I'm not praising Smith because he still didn't play great. I just think we need to be fair to the guy. He's been the most consistent performer on offense this season. Scary, YES! But he's also the most hated.

They got the win. It was ugly, but they got it. I'll take it but there was so much sloppiness in this game, that it's hard to take too much away on the positive side.

Our timing to play Philly at home may be about as good as possible. A lot of injuries today vs the G-Men, including Vick's broken (non-throwing) hand. I'll take every advantage the Niners can get t help them get a W, as that game on the schedule looked anything but ideal.

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Tomsula in as HC after the "Harbacle"
Operation 2015 Super Bowl Champions: In progress, with much work to be done

Alex has played fine, yeah I said it. When they needed a drive to win the game, they spread the field and let him throw. Gore is done, and there should be no excuses, he limits the Offense tremendously because he's not a big play threat and he can't do anything outside the tackles. When Hunter came in the difference was startling.

Smith has not played fine unless you are content with mediocrity. They let him throw a bunch in this game especially in the 1st half and he didn't make plays.

Wake me up when we have a Drew Brees, Aaron Rogers, or Philip Rivers. Someone that actually has the potential to dominate a game.

Actually, in this particular game you're right on here. Yeah, it's the Bengals..but no reason to sound like every other dumb niner fan out there over this game. If everyone does their job, Alex has a great game....the guy got battered all game long and when they put the O in his hands with the game on the line, he won.

Actually, in this particular game you're right on here. Yeah, it's the Bengals..but no reason to sound like every other dumb niner fan out there over this game. If everyone does their job, Alex has a great game....the guy got battered all game long and when they put the O in his hands with the game on the line, he won.

Any quarterback can make a drive like that in that kind of game against that kind of team. I'm talking Jon Kitna, Billy Volek, etc. Smith completed enough of his passes to make big plays over the field, and like I said earlier they let him pass a bunch in the first half. Dude just didn't get it done. When the passing game actually starts dominating and Smith throws for 300 yards, 4 touchdowns, in a rout of a team, then I'll have faith. But one game against a terrible Bengals team that the 49ers happened to win in which they could have easily lost doesn't give me any confidence. If the 49ers were playing the Packers, Saints, or Giants they would have gotten their asses kicked and Alex Smith would not have had a "great game".

Like I also said, wake me up when we have a Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, or Phillip Rivers. Someone that can actually dominate a game and not just be a game manager with a high percentage of completions while never throwing for more than 300 yards. This is not worth the number one overall pick that Alex was picked for.

You can use all the excuses you want, but at the end of the day it's just excuses. Receivers dropping passes, coordinators, etc. The actual good quarterbacks in this league offset those things because they make big plays and make them often. It's not just limiting your mistakes either, it's making big plays and having big games period. It's really that simple.

Funny how you blame Gore instead of the offensive line for not being explosive, but blame the offensive line for Alex Smith not having a better game.

All in all it doesn't matter. I'm already looking forward to Landry Jones or Matt Barkley under center next year. This is Smith's last year thank goodness.